Elias reluctant to push

Toni Elias has admitted he won’t push too hard on tyres he’s not 100 per cent happy with because he’s scared of getting injured for the new season.

The Spaniard has struggled in winter testing while he waits for Bridgestone to build a tyre specific for his lightweight requirements.

Elias, who claimed a stunning win in Estoril last season to save his job, said past painful memories had taught him to be cautious until he’s got the tyres he needs.

He said: “In the last two years I’ve crashed, broken my collarbone, my wrist and my ankle on cold tyres.

“And that is my problem. I can’t get enough heat into the rear tyre. It is impossible for me to ride at the moment. 

“I just have no grip with the lack of temperature in the tyre and I’m sliding everywhere. 

“We have tried to put some weight onto the rear to help but then the front just pushes in the faster corners. In Qatar I tried one tyre and pulled in after two laps because it was so bad. 

“The Bridgestone guy said I hadn’t been out long enough to get heat in it. Then he measured the temperature and said ‘you were right to pull in’ because there was no heat in it.”